2005-2006 MISD School Calendar

The McKinney ISD Board of Trustees approved the 2005-2006 school calendar during a regularly scheduled board meeting on Monday, Jan. 24, 2005. The 2005-2006 calendar approved by the MISD Board of Trustees requests that school begin prior to the week in which Aug. 21,  falls. As a result, the district submitted a waiver request to the state for approval to start school on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2005. The Texas Education Agency approved the district waiver request in February.

Click on the picture below to view the final approved 2005-2006 school calendar

2005-2006 School Calendar Process

Several options were developed and voted on by employees of the district. The top three options selected by the employees were then mailed to parents with students enrolled in the district with an option to vote on their preferred calendar.

The results of the parent survey showed more than 59 percent supported Option 2, with school beginning on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2005.

On Tuesday, Jan. 18, the McKinney ISD Board of Trustees held a public hearing on the proposed school calendar with a start date prior to the week of Aug. 21. On Monday, Jan. 24, the MISD Board of Trustees held a regularly scheduled meeting with a vote on the 2005-2006 school calendar on the agenda. The board approved the proposed calendar (Option 2) with a school start date of Tuesday, Aug. 16. The district submitted the calendar to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) with a waiver request to begin school prior to the week of Aug. 21.  In February, the TEA approved MISD's waiver request.

Development of the 2005-2006 School Calendar

There were a few parameters used in developing the three calendar options. First of all, the calendar options were developed with 178 instructional days for students, instead of 180 days, which will require a waiver from the Texas Education Agency. The two days will be used for additional staff development, which will help the district better prepare teachers to provide the quality education you expect for your children. Therefore, each calendar option includes seven staff development days, three teacher workdays and two bad weather days.

Staff development days (non-student days) were scheduled strategically at times in which student data could be reviewed and planning could occur for the following grading period. You will also notice that none of the options designate President’s Day in February as a holiday, staff development day or teacher workday. The Texas Education Agency has scheduled one of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests on the day after President’s Day. Therefore, to prevent the scheduling of a non-instructional day prior to TAKS, students will attend school on President’s Day.

MISD administration worked with members of the District Communication Committee, (DCC) which includes staff representation from every MISD campus. We asked the DCC to rank the items they would like to see included in the calendar. In order of ranking, those items include a five-day Thanksgiving Break, a four-day or less first week of school, a one or two-day Fall Break, balanced semesters, staff development days spread throughout the year and the first semester ending before the Winter Break (tied), and a school year ending before Memorial Day.

Before developing the options, the DCC had the opportunity to consider a draft calendar that would start school on Monday, Aug. 22, 2005. School districts are required to seek a first day of instruction waiver if the district plans to start school before the week in which Aug. 21 falls. In 2005, Aug. 21 falls on a Sunday. In reviewing the calendar with an Aug. 22 start date, it became apparent to the DCC that most of the desired items would be compromised in this calendar. Therefore, they encouraged the district to move forward to develop options that would attempt to include all of those desired items, causing MISD to seek a first day waiver.

MISD developed three options for review by all MISD staff. One option had an Aug. 3 start date, one had an Aug. 10 start date, and one option included an Aug. 16 start date. After hearing additional concerns from staff members about the length of the Winter Break, two additional options were developed to lengthen the Winter Break for MISD staff and students.

Staff members voted on the five options. Option 1 received the highest approval rating (nearly 30 percent), with Option 2 (26 percent) and Option 3 (22 percent) following. Those three options were then mailed to parents who have students enrolled in MISD schools. More than 59 percent of the parents favored Option 2. That is the option that was brought before the MISD Board of Trustees for approval during the Monday, Jan. 24 regularly scheduled board meeting. The option can be viewed at the following link.